Mold making like a pro movie prop supplier

These gun halves are nearly complete positives for making a mold. It will produce replicas of the Dominator gun from Psycho-Pass. Despite how detailed they are, it’s actually conceivable that this can be done at home.

Don’t get me wrong, mold making of this caliber is an art. But the process outlined in the guide uses a very small number of tools and materials. The biggest hurdle comes at the beginning and the end — design the model on the computer, and sculpting the final curves and details. The design for this was done with Adobe Illustrator, but there’s always the option of Inkscape or other free open source software.

Next the parts were cut out with a laser cutter. A cheaper way would be to print the designs on paper and use hand tools to cut and sand up to the lines. Those skills lead right into adding and sculpting putty until they are smooth and include all of the final nooks and crannies. What’s shown above has been primed and sanded several times for a glossy finish that’s going to make a perfect mold.

Okay, now that I look at all the work that went into it I’d have to be pretty motivated to give it a try. Maybe I’ll stick to building props with LEGO.